Banijay International’s format Stars in Danger: The High Dive, has become a hit on China’s Jiangsu Satellite Television. The Chinese version, which features some of the biggest celebrities from China and neighbouring East Asian countries, showcases recent Nick Kids Choice Awards winner for Favourite Asian Act Geng HAN, Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung, singer Rain Li, and Taiwanese pop star Vaness Wu, premiered recently with 1.87% in its timeslot across 46 states, according to Sebastian Burkhardt, Head of Sales, Banijay International, who spoke to TV ASIA Plus at MIPTV.

“We’ve sold this show over the past six months to fifteen countries, including China’s Jiangsu. Obviously high diving is a national treasure in China. So that was an obvious fit for the Chinese audience. The channel was really keen on it when we met them six months ago. They saw the show and thought ‘ok we want it’. They went on to create something really, really big. Some of the biggest celebrities in China are on the show, like Geng HAN. The brilliance of this show is that the channel really believed in it and wanted to make it super big,” says Burkhardt.

“The other thing that is so great about this version is that it shows the most iconic swimming pool in the world, which is the Water Cube (formally known as Beijing National Aquatics Centre) in Beijing. It’s an iconic landmark building that everybody knows around the world as we’ve all seen it on television. We did the whole show there. If you see the first opening of the show, it was beautifully shot. I think it’s one of the best versions to have been produced for that format. We’re really happy about it.”

Burkhardt reveals that several other Asian countries have also expressed interest in the format. “I cannot share which broadcasters (are interested) but we are in discussions in a few territories including Vietnam and Korea,” he says. “There are a few Southeast Asian countries that have also expressed interest over the past month. This will only grow even stronger now, not only based on the Chinese version, but also based on the success of the format around the world.”